Indian Civil Society and Its Deafening Silence on Horrifying Crimes

By Arshad Kazmi

The Manipur incident, in which a woman was paraded and pulled along while completely naked, nearly shattered the entire world. As members of human society, it has undoubtedly touched our conscience. However, some parts of society remained unaffected by the Manipur tragedy and were instead glad to see it. Such people have a long history of degrading women, and they have always consistently viewed women, especially Dalits, Adivasi and Muslim women, as an easy target to display their patriotic duty and pride.

Since the right wing has become a powerful political force in India, they have been using rape as a tool to spread terror in society. According to the historical records, rapes have been used often as one of the key weapons to degrade women. In his book, The Pakistan Garrison State, Dr. Ishtiyaq Ahmed provides an account of how women from both sides of the border were subjected to extreme sexual atrocities.

In a male-dominated society, women endure numerous hardships in order to carve out an identity of their own. Rape is often used as a tool to erase their social self and cage them to an oppressive life. Savarkar, the proponent of hardcore Hindutva, justified rape of Muslim women as a way of revenge for supposed historical wrongs. Whenever rapes have been perpetrated, the accused in such crimes have received praise from a section of society, be it in the case of Bilqis Bano or the women who fell prey to the charlatan Baba Ram Rahim. Gandhi, Nehru, and Ambedkar‘s idea of social justice, mutual understanding and liberty categorically oppose rape, violence, hostility, and social division.

Rapes during communal and societal tensions are fairly common in India, and extreme elements use absolutely harsh methods to subject women to the most sadistic and vicious kind of abuse. In this context, social activist Harsh Mander writes: “The sexual violence consisted of forced nudity, mass rapes, gang-rapes, mutilation, insertion of objects into bodies, cutting of breasts, slitting the stomach and reproductive organs, and carving of Hindu religious symbols on women’s body parts.” Nothing could be more tragic than such a brutal, inhuman act of violence.

We, as a democratic society, must denounce rapes and regard it as a crime against humanity, just the way it was done during the Nirbhaya rape case, which forced the government to amend legislation dealing with rape cases without being biased. It is distressing to note that after the Manipur event, no large-scale protests from the civil society have been organized in mainland India yet. It is a clear indication of the apathy that exists toward the marginalised sections of society. How long will this society, though, maintain silence about such heinous atrocities? And when will this so-called society realise that their silence will one day backfire?

Bio:
Arshad Azmi studies at the Department of English AMU, Aligarh. Email: arshadazmi16ceb10@gmail.com

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